Miles: 9
At some hour of the night, I hear a splattering of water dropping on my tent. I lay there for a full minute confused and then realize it’s raining. I check my watch and it reads 11:30 P.M. By the time I drag my stuff from outside into my tent, it’s soaking wet. Well, so much for any drying progress made from the fire a few hours ago. At least my tent is holding up and I’m dry as can be in here.
I drift off to sleep and wake up to light streaming in my tent. My body feels stiff when I wake, and the dampness from the rain last night does nothing to brighten the mood.
From my sleeping bag, I mix instant coffee, protein powder, and some superfood coconut creamer into my shaker bottle. This will be my breakfast to go as I begin hiking. I take a sip and start to feel better. Maybe today will be sunny. Maybe the trail will be snow free. Maybe, maybe, maybe.
I leave camp as Mousetrap and Victor are emerging from their tents and tell them I will see them up the trail. I have no idea how far I’ll get before encountering yet another seemingly impassable section of trail.
The trail isn’t sketchy at all as I move lower in elevation and further north. I catch my breath and check my GPS to find that I’m only 5 miles from the border. In fact, I’ve already hiked almost half of yesterday’s mile in a only an hour and half today. Wild. With no rush and the border in sight, I sit in a mushy but meadow and take out my tent and sleeping bag to let them dry. I also began munching on my cold soaked cereal, adding a glob of coconut oil to it.
In the midst of my break, Victor and Mousetrap come around the corner. “I thought you’d be at the border by now Northstar,” Victor says to me. Mousetrap gave me the trail name Northstar yesterday, because of the footsteps I have been leaving in the snow. “It’s like following the Northstar,” he tells me.” I like the trail name and think it’s going to stick.
Victor and Mousetrap head out and I’m left alone to put back my tent and sleeping bag, and start hiking. A mere few miles from the border, the trail is sunny and meanders through lush trees and vegetation. I turn a corner and there it is- The Northern Terminus. This marks the Northern most point on the PCT and the US/Canadian border. After seeing it in a million different YouTube videos, it’s a little surreal to have it actually in front of me. For so many hikers, this terminus marks the end of their journey. For us, it marks the beginning.
Mousetrap, Victor, and I take pictures at the terminus, congratulate each other on making it, and sign the trail register. There are no other hikers who have signed the register this year, making us the very likely, and for better or worse, the first SOBO hikers to get to the Northern border. I write “Made it to the border 6/20/21 via the PCT from Harts Pass. Headed to Mexico. Happy trails. -Northstar”
The first mosquitos of our hike appear and cut our lunch at the terminus short. That’s fine. We begin retracing our steps and start our southbound journey. As I’m rock hopping across a small stream, I see a group of other hikers approaching us. Other people! We haven’t seen anyone outside of our group since our departure.
It’s a group of four people, and they introduce themselves as Lynx, Moss, Boyband, and Tusk. Sounds like something out of Alice and Wonderland. While they are SOBO PCT hikers, they tell us that they took an alternative side trail called Robinson Creek trail, and not the PCT, to get to this point. Victor has mentioned the Robinson Creek trail several times as a bailout option for us. Also, we were thinking we’d have to take the Robinson Creek trail in order to return to Harts Pass Campground, as getting over Rock Pass via the PCT seems virtually not doable. We got down from Rock Pass but I don’t think there’s anyway we could get up it. So this is great news that we run into this group who has taken the Robinson Creek Trail. And how are the conditions on that trail?
Lynx does most of the talking, telling us the trail is covered with blowdown trees, causing you to crawl and take off our packs at various points, but it’s at least safe. Well, reasonably safe. “There’s always the possibility you slip and a fallen tree impales you,” she tells us.!But I’d take that possibility over steep and snowy mountain passes any day of the week.
Mousetrap, Victor, and I quickly confer and it’s decided we will be taking the Robinson Creek Trail, which will bring us back into the general vicinity of Harts Pass Campground. I’m feeling very good at this point, because it’s been constantly weighing on my mind on how we will get back. Now we have a group who has taken this unknown trail and told us it’s relatively safe.
About an hour later or so, Victors tells Mousetrap and me that he is going to push ahead, to try to get his phone situation figured out. I ask Victor if he feels comfortable navigating his way on this Robinson Creek Side trail by himself and without his phone. “I think I’ll be alright,” Victor says. “I got my paper maps and Garmin satellite.” Mousetrap and I wish him luck, and hope that our paths cross again soon.
Mousetrap’s knee is bugging him and when he suggests we stop hiking for the day around 4 p.m., I’m all for the idea. The past few days have been hard and we have reached our objective for the day- tag the border. Mousetrap and I settle in for the night, and before dinner I pull out the makeshift chess set I brought out here. Essentially just drew a chess board on a piece of construction paper and brought plastic pieces. We wager fetching water on the first game, loser grabs it, and Mousetrap proceeds to beat me soundly. It’s a nice evening.
I’d buy this book. Safe travels and we will serve your mom plenty of beer so she doesn’t worry!